Brake for pivotal running-gear of vehicles.



No. 707,48l. Patented Aug. 19, I902. W. WIEDINMYER.

BRAKE FOR PIVOTAL RUNNING GEAR 0F VEHICLES.

- (Application filed June 6, 1902.) k" 0 M o d e I e i 6W////////////////Z i'rn ATFNT FFICE.

BRAKE FOR PIVOTAL RUNNING -GEAR OF VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart Of Letters Patent No. 707,481, dated August19, 1902.

Application filed June 6, 1902. Serial No. 110,505. (No model.)

To all whom it 7711602] concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM WIEDINMYER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of N orristown, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in Brakes for Pivotal Running-Gear of Vehicles, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in gear for fifth-wheels,having for its object the provision of a device which shall act upon thefifth-wheel of a wagon or carriage to prevent the hind end from swingingwhen the said wagon is moved at a high rate of speed or suddenly changesits direction of motion. This object I attain as hereinafter set forth,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is aside elevation, partly in section, of my improved device, showing it ina position to be operated by foot-power from the front of the wagon.Fig. 2 is an end elevation of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a similar elevation of the remainder of the device illustratedin the first figure. Fig. 4.- is a plan view of another form of brakefor application to the fifth-wheel of a wagon. Fig. 5 is a perspectiveview showing one of the cranks and the eccentric or cam portion of theshaft 0; and Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of portions of two of thecollars on the shaft F, showing the means for re-' ing and beingdirectly upon the lower portion 13 of said fifth-wheel, the whole beingheld together by means of a king-bolt b. It is to be noted, vhowever,that there is a plate 0 carried upon the upper surface of the piece A,upon which are formed two bearings 0, through each of which extends ashort shaft or bar 0, having keyed to its outer end a crank 0 The innerends of these shafts extend under a thick washer-like piece 11 upon theking-bolt and have a portion of their cylindrical surfaces cut away, asindicated in Fig. 5, making said end portions of elliptical or cam shapesection. The king-bolt b has a head I) and nuts 11 for retaining it inplace and holding the Various parts of the fifthwheel, &c., to the partD, connected to the running-gear.

Suitably bolted to the front and under side of the floor or bottom ofthe wagon are two brackets E, provided with hearings in which is carrieda shaft 6, the central portion of said shaft being in the presentinstance made square, as indicated at 6, while two grooved wheels e arekeyed to said shaft between the squared portion and the bearings c. Achain or other link 6 connects each of the cranks c with one of thegrooved wheels e it being noted from Figs. 2 and 3 that each of theselatter is in the same longitudinal line as one of said cranks. Thechains are fastened in any desired manner in the grooves of theirrespective pulleys. A bar or arm 6 extends at right angles to the shafte, being fixed in a suitable opening in the squared part 6' thereof andhaving pivotally or otherwise in engagement with its end a headedfootpiece 6 passing through and supported by the dashboard a. Inoperation when the said footpiece is pushed outwardly by proper motionof the foot of the person in the wagon the shaft 6 will be turned in itsbearings, thereby turning the curved wheels 6 and through the chains 6and the cranks 0 also turning the shafts 0. Under normal conditions thecam-like ends of these shafts project under the piece b on theking-bolt, so that their smaller diameters are in substantially verticalposition. tVhen further revolution of the shafts 0 takes place, as aboveindicated, such motion brings the longer axis of the camshaped endstoward a vertical position, and

thereby tends to increase the distance be-.

tween the plate 0 and the piece b upon the king-bolt. This tendencylifts the king-bolt and if the parts are correctly adjusted binds orclamps the two portions of the fifth-wheel together, so that relativemotion between the same is retarded to any desired extent. Theapplication of such a device will be understood when it is noted thatthe swinging of the rear end of a wagon caused by the centrifugal forceincident upon rapid movement in a crooked line or upon a sudden changein the direction of its motion is dependent upon the freedom of the bodyto be moved pivotally upon the fifthwheel and its king-bolt. If now abrake is applied to retard or prevent such freedom of movement betweenthe two parts of the fifth- -wheel in the manner indicated above, the

front running-gear, including the shafts or tongue, is practicallylocked to the body and rear wheels of the wagon, thereby completelypreventing the objectionable swinging action.

I may, if desired, provide forms of brake upon the pivotal gear of awagon other than that illustrated in the first three figuresas, forexample, the device shown in Fig. 4. In this form of my invention Iprovide a shaft or bolt F, suitably carried in bearings f, fixed to thebody of the wagon, and having upon it two freely-movable bushings orcollars f, eachmade with one face, as f formed at an angle other thanninety degrees to the said shaft. There are other collars f on theshaft, each with an angular face corresponding to the face f of thecollars f, and with projecting crank-arms f designed forthe attachmentof chains or links e as indicated in Fig. 1, each of the collars fhaving projecting arms f to which is fixed a flexible ring f extendingaround and in engagement with the periphery of the lower portion B ofthe fifthwheel, in addition to which there is a spring f upon the shaftF, continually tending to move apart or separate the two collars f. If

- desired, ball-bearings f may be placed between the angular faces ofthe two sets of collars f and f the balls being preferably carried in anundercut slot in the face of the collarf and prevented from coming outof the opening through which they were placed in the slot by a plug orscrew. It will be seen when the footpiece e is operated so as to pull onthe crank-arms f, as previously set forth, that the revolution of thecollars f will push the collars f" toward each other against the actionof the springf and cause the ring f to bind upon the periphery of thelower half of the fifth-wheel, thereby preventing or retarding furthermotion thereof in the same manner as before.

It will be understood that while I have shown two sets of chains withtheir crankarms, &c., I may, if I desire, use but asingle set to connectthe footpiece and its parts with the mechanism for directly exerting abraking action u pon the pivotal run ning-gear.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination of a vehicle having a bodyportion and running-gear, two bearingsurfaces carried by said membersrespectively, a pivot connecting the same, a device having means for simultaneonsly acting upon the pivot and one of the bearing-surfaceswhereby the pressure of the bearing-surfaces upon each other may bevaried, and mechanism for throwing said device into and out of action,substantially as described.

2. The combination of a vehicle having a body portion and running-gear,two bearingsurfaces carried by said members respectively, a pivotconnecting the same and in positive engagement with one of saidsurfaces, a device for moving said pivot longitudinally andsimultaneously pressing the second of the bearing-surfaces against thesurface engaged by the pivot, and mechanism for operating said device toany desired extent and thereby varying the amount of friction betweenthe two surfaces, substantially as described.

3. The combination in a vehicle having a body portion and running-gearpivotally connected together, a bearing-surface lying in a horizontalplane connected to each of said members, operating means carried by thebody, and a device whereby the said pivotal connection may be moved andthereby made to vary the amount of friction between said surfaces,substantially as described.

4. The combination in a vehicle having a body portion and running-gear,a bearingsurface attached to one of said members, a pivotal piececonnecting the members, a piece coacting with said bearing-surface andoperated by the pivotal piece to press against the bearing-surface, witha device operative upon said pivotal piece for moving the samelongitudinally and thereby controlling the movement of the body upon therunning-gear, substanti ally as described.

5. The combination of a vehicle having a body portion and running-gear,a bearingsurface on each of said members, a bar having a projectingportion and attached to one of said members, a shaft having an eccentricportion operative upon said projecting part of the bar, a lever on thebody and means for connecting the lever to said shaft whereby saideccentric portion thereof is made to operate upon the bar and vary theamount of friction between the two bearing surfaces when the lever ismanipulated, substantially as described.

6. The combination of a body, runninggear therefor, a lever pivotallycarried by the body, a shaft having an eccentric portion and aprojecting arm, means for connecting the arm to the lever, pieces havingbearing-surfaces carried by the body and the runninggear respectively,and a member or members operated by the eccentric portion of the shaftand operative upon one of the said pieces whereby the motion of thepieces relatively to each other may be controlled, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WM. WIEDINMYER.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM E. BRADLEY, J 0s. H. KLEIN.

